Arsenal Rejected Liverpool’s Proposed ‘£40m + Theo Walcott’ Deal For Luis Suarez

The January transfer window may have slammed shut but clubs will still be working hard behind the scenes at identifying targets for the summer, so we’ll bring you all the latest news, gossip and rumours. Today, Arsenal turned down Liverpool’s player-plus-cash suggestion for Luis Suarez.

Arsenal’s failed pursuit of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was one of the summers big transfer stories but now it’s emerged that the Gunners could have got their hands on the prolific striker after all.

According to Goal, the Merseysiders sensationally offered Arsenal the chance to sign Suarez during the final days of the summer transfer window in exchange for £40m PLUS Theo Walcott.

The report claims that Arsene Wenger rejected the offer as it would value Suarez at around £65m and he also didn’t want to lose Walcott – who he valued at at least £25m.

Yesterday, the Frenchman ruled out making another attempt to sign Suarez this summer but it will be interesting to see if he stays at Liverpool if they fail to make the top four.

Goal suggests that the strikers new contract has a buy-out clause that states he can join a foreign club should they miss out on the Champions League, with the release fee believed to be around the £70m mark, but Liverpool wanted to ensure they didn’t have to sell to a domestic rival, which means Arsenal look like they missed their chance to sign Suarez last summer.

The news comes on the eve of Arsenal’s crucial clash with Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow and you have to say, looking at how the seasons have gone for the two players, Wenger may be regretting his decision.

Suarez has been in stunning form, scoring 23 goals in just 19 Premier League games, to make him the odds on favourite to land the Golden Boot and with it, take his value to at least £65m – the figure Arsenal could theoretically have got him for in the summer.

Walcott on the other hand has seen his season severely disrupted by injury with a shoulder problem keeping him out for the majority of the first half of the campaign before a cruel knee injury ended his season last month.

Obviously it’s impossible to know how things would have turned out had the proposed player-plus-cash swap deal gone through in the summer, but there is a strong argument to suggest the Gunners would have been better off had they gone ahead with it.

Although had they signed Suarez, Arsene Wenger would probably not have splashed out £42m on Mesut Ozil, so I suppose the question for Arsenal fans would be; would you rather have Ozil and Walcott or just Suarez?

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